Mary C. Carroll
United States
BORN in 1979 in rural West Virginia, Mary C. Carroll spent her youth helping her family work their farm and land in an isolated area. She had no television or other modern distractions, and was encouraged to entertain herself with objects in nature. Left with the workings of her imagination and observations of the world around her, she translated her understanding into paintings. She continues this practice today, gaining much of her creativity from the natural world. Her figurative realism paintings offer a narrative that echoes a provocative daydream, communicating both the human disposition and our relationship to the land.
Carroll received her MFA in painting and art history from Radford University, graduating in 2010 Summa Cum Laude, and was awarded the university’s best graduate thesis. Her paintings have been exhibited at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art in Wisconsin, the Taubman Museum of Art in Virginia, RJD Gallery, New York, and Abend Gallery, Denver, and Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa. She has been awarded by the Portrait Society of America (2021, 2019, 2018, 2016) and the International ARC Salon (2019, 2018), and Bold Brush/FASO (2021). You can find her paintings in American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Artist Magazine and the New York Times. Carroll lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.